4.24.11: Three little bunnies

Our easter began with some practice bobsledding. What else do you do with a giant diaper box from amazon? Daphne/pink, Stella/gray, Fiona/white helped us to breakdown the box on our way to the children's museum for our easter extravaganza. (we thought you'd like this picture rob)


The girls made their own easter baskets. Okay, realistically they picked out the colors while Brant and I got to work weaving.


Thankfully everyone got one egg from the egg hunt, here they are showing their acquisitions. Next up was crafting some bunny ears. It was a little crowded so the girls just supervised while Brant and I made each girl a set of bunny ears.


...and what easter would be complete without wearing bunny ears for dinner?

4.22.11: Decorating for Daddy

We spent the last couple of days preparing for Brant's birthday. I tried to convince the girls to finger paint, but they really don't like the sensation of the paint on their hands. My solution.....cut a sponge into strips therefore making a pseudo-paintbrush. Once we had clean hands, we were well on our way to decorating paper balloons for daddy's birthday.


(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

What is a birthday without a cake? The girls each picked a different icing color (although blue and green look the same on this cake) and got to work decorating. I wrote their names next to their 'art' so Brant would know the contribution that each of them made. Overall I think it turned out quite lovely.

4.14.11: Flying wheel

Today was a very sad day for our beloved triple tandem stroller. A stroller we use everyday on our ~3 mile walk. What began as a normal walk quickly escalated into a new adventure. Just two blocks from home the stroller wheel started to wobble. We know this wobble well. This is the wobble that Brant has successfully repaired several times before but it demands immediate action. I knew we had to head back home and tackle our walk with the double stroller + backpack. I called Brant to warn him, he was on his way home.

Just one block from home, life got interesting. One of the rear wheels broke off and went flying sideways into traffic on the street and well...as you can expect...when one side of a triangle is removed, the other sides collapse. So as anticipated, the stroller nearly toppled on its side. Using my super human 'my kids are not flying into the street like that tire' strength, I was able to catch the stroller before the girls' heads hit the ground. A few hands brushing the street and definitely some scared cries, but no injuries. For this I was very thankful.

So now, what to do? I couldn't hold up the stroller for long and I couldn't push it home. So the girls and I had a little talk and decided that we would abandon the stroller and walk home all holding hands together. This 'holding hands' idea is not something we do easily or often, but it has been done occasionally. So knowing that Brant would see the stroller on the street and bring in home (in less than ten minutes) we did it. We all held hands and made it back home. I figured no one would dare steal our stroller, not only because it was broken, but also because we (incl. our stroller) are pretty well known around the neighborhood. I suppose being a spectacle does have its benefits. So now we wait. We wait several weeks to get a new tire and most importantly giant custom bolt (since that is what really broke) to repair our stroller. In the meantime, Brant and I will be getting an even better workout each night as we carry one child and push two others.

4.11.11: Twenty-two months old

(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

The chatter this month has been incredible. The girls repeat words all day long, sometimes ones we'd rather that they didn't. They are able to communicate what they want and typically insist upon getting it. Some especially adorable tidbits from the past month:

fiona
- gives hugs to her sisters ALL the time, even if they try to resist. she has recently started rubbing their backs too when they are upset.
- loves to clean, she touches every surface she can with the wipes and often cries when I have to take them away.
- always wants to trade with her sisters, sippy cups, spoons, books, etc, asking 'trade?, trade?'

daphne
- loves to be naked and jump/hop especially after the new found fascination with bunnies.
- at preschool we made a bunny ear hat (just a band with ears stapled on) and she insisted upon wearing it for over 20 minutes and then again the next morning during breakfast.
- tells me how she'd like her hair done each morning, barrette or two pigtails - most days I oblige.

stella:
- when she wants more chikin nuggets, she flaps her arms like a chicken and makes chicken noises.
- after one recent outing where stella rode in the kid carrier/backpack, she asks everyday if she can ride in the backpack again...backpack??? backpack??? (repeat)
- loves the color pink. she is the first out of bed every morning in order to get her preferred sippy cup - always with some pink on it.

...and now for one of my favorite pictures from this month. Stella, Fiona and Daphne got themselves into these boxes with books on their own, it was priceless.

4.10.11: Trains

Today we went to a train museum. After our visit the girls definitely understand that trains go 'choo choo' and are gigantic. The girls aren't super into trains, but quickly identified their two favorite parts of the museum:

1. riding the mini-train around the tracks

(left to right: stella, fiona, daphne)

2. climbing into a real train and running back and forth in the car

(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

Gotta get out that energy wherever you can.

4.6.11: Tucson

This week we adventured for our longest car trip to date...to Tucson. It was a crazy busy trip. The girls did pretty well, but definitely made it clear that they prefer being at home over a hotel. We managed to adventure to the zoo, which of course the girls loved. (Notice the GIANT turtle in the background)


(left to right: daphne, stella, fiona)

We also adventured to the Desert Museum, but (as expected) the girls weren't super entertained by the cactus. They did grow a strong passion for flowers though as I emphasized every possible bright colored flower I could find. Grandy also taught them 'one-finger touching' which helped to leave some flowers for people after us to enjoy.


(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

Oh and the best thing about the hotel....the luggage trolley.


(left to right: daphne, fiona, stella)

4.1.11: Freedom

(left to right: stella, daphne, fiona)

Today we let the girls run free on the grass near campus. Lately they have been doing much better with following directions and boundaries. We found a patch of grass with cement on all sides and let them free. We told them that they could go wherever they wanted as long as they stayed on the grass. They had a great time and followed their directions, with just a few challenges here and there. I am beginning to feel like within the next year, they might really begin to listen to us....fingers crossed.